Garment hanger



April 1961 M. R. FRIEDMAN 2,981,451

GARMENT HANGER Filed Aug. 29, 1958 zq r ora 2] 37 26 I za 1 I 2 l x 54- a L Z4- 34- l i 3 .30 l

IN VENT 0R.

MRSHALL R. FRIED MAN B ATTURNEY.

United States Patent 2,981,451 GARMENT HANGER Marshall R. Friedman, 56 Davis Road, Fail-field, Conn. Filed Aug. 29, 1958, Ser. No. 758,091 3 Claims. (Cl. 223-88) The present invention relates to an improved garment hanger, and particularly a combination contoured coat hanger and pants or skirt hanger.

It is proposed to provide a garment hanger of the type wherein a pants or skirt supporting bar, open at one end and having a supporting hook means connected at its other end, is disposed above a coat hanger, and whereby the pants or skirt may be placed over the bar following the placing of a coat over the coat hanger, and may be removed from the bar without first removing the coat from the coat hanger. Thus the hanger lends itself to the normal procedures in undressing and dressing, the pants or skirt being usually taken off after taking off the coat, and being put on prior to putting on the coat. The contoured coat hanger has distinctively different front and rear surfaces and the coat when properly hung thereon has its open side at the front of the coat hanger, while the pants or skirt supporting bar has a closed end and an open end and the pants or skirt must be engaged or disengaged through the open end. When properly hung in a closet, the open end of the bar should face the open side or the aisle of a closet, and the front of the contoured coat hanger should face in a direction which will conveniently display the forward side of the coat. Thus with certain closet arrangements, the open side of the bar shouldface to the right with respect to the front of the coat hanger, and in other arrangements should face to the left.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved garment hanger wherein the pants or skirt hanger bar member may be conveniently adjusted to dispose its open end either to the right or to the left with respect to the coat hanger member.

Other objects and advantages will becomeapparent from a consideration of the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein a satisfactory embodiment of the invention is "ice.

- Fig. 7 is a horizontal sectional view taken along the line 7--7 of Fig. 6. e

Referring to the drawings, the garment hanger, according to the exemplary embodiment of the invention illustrated therein, comprises a pants or skirt supporting horizontal bar member 10, preferably formed of wood, and having secured at one end, as by dowels 11 and glueing, an upwardly inclined arm 12 having a hook 13, preferably of bent wire, secured at its end, the hook having a screw threaded shank 14 which is screwed into a hole 15 in the arm. The hook is positioned directly above the bar at a point calculated by the distribution of the weight of the material in the bar and the arm which represents the center of gravity of the hanger, so that when the hook is engaged over a supportign rod the hangerwill normally hang with the bar in a horizontal position. The upper surface of the bar is preferably convexly rounded transversely and is provided with a nonslip covering 16, preferably of suitable fabric cemented thereon.

Coincident with the center of gravity point of the bar 10 there is provided a vertical hole 17 having a counter sunk pocket 18 at its upper end in which the head 19 of a bolt 20 is engaged, the stem of te bolt being preferably non-rotatably engaged in the hole 17 by a squared formation 21 adjacent the head 18 and forced into the hole 17. This is a standard type of bolt, commonly referred to as a carriage bolt. 1

The coat hanger member 22 is preferably formed of wood by means of suitable automatic carving and forming methods, whereby its contour shape is economically produced. In practice the coat hanger member consists of two identical reverse halves joined at the center of the hanger by dowels 23 and glueing. While the coat hanger member and the bar 10 are preferably formed of wood, it will be understood that they may also be shown. However, it will be understood that the inven- I tion is not limited to the details disclosed butincludes all such variations and modifications as fall within the spirit of the invention vand the scope of the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a garment hanger according to the invention;

Fig. 2is a side elevation;

Fig. 3 is a top plan.view;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view on an enlarged scale, taken along the line 4-4 of Fig. 3, and showing the pivotal connection means connecting the pants or skirt supporting bar and the coat hanger;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view on a further enlarged scale, showing the positioning washers employed in the pivotal connection means;

Fig. 6 is a front elevation showing a closet arrangement provided with the garment hangers of the invention; and

made of molded plastic, light metal or other suitable material, and that in such case, these members will each preferably be of one-piece construction. The coat hanger member is of contour shape, i.e., it is especially shaped at its intermediate portion and at its outwardly extending arms to lit the collar and shoulder structure of a coat in a manner to properly maintain its shape while the coat is supported thereon. Thus the contour coat hanger has distinctively differently contoured forward and rearward surfaces.

Centrally of the coat hanger member there is provided a vertical hole 24, preferably arranged with respect to the dowels 23 so that it does not intersect them, this hole being engaged by the depending shank of the bolt 20.

'Between the flat under surface 25 of the bar 10 and the posed upon the bolt 20 a pair of positioning washer members 27 and 28. These washer members are in the shape of a circular flat bottom cup, the cup 27 having a pair of diametrically opposed prongs 29 projecting upwardly from its rim, and the cup 28 having a pair of similar diametrically opposed prongs 30 projecting downwardly from its rim.

The cup 27 is provided with a central bolt receiving hole 31, and along a diametric line at opposite sides of the hole with a pair of downwardly embossed projections 32. The cup 28 is similarly provided centrally with a bolt receiving hole 33, and along a diametric line at opposite sides thereof with a pair of recesses 34 which are arranged to receive the projections 32 of the washer 27 in the assembled relation asshown' in Fig. 4. The washer members 27 and 28 are engaged upon the bolt 20, the washer member 27 being rigidly secured to the bar 10 by driving the prongs 29 therein, and the washer 28 placed in the other side.

being rigidly secured to the coat hanger member 22 bydriving the prongs 30 therein.

Upon the lower side. of the coat hanger member there is provided a cupped washer member 35 substantially similar to the washers 27 and 28, being provided with a central bolt receiving hole 36 and diametrically opposite prongs 37. This washer is engaged upon the lower threaded projecting end of the bolt 20 and is rigidly secured to the coat hanger by driving the prongs 37 therein, thus providing a bearing for a thumb nut 38 screwed upon the threaded end of the bolt. When the thumb nut is tightened the coat hanger is rigidly secured to the bar member and is yieldably retained against relative angular or rotational movement by the interlocking engagement of the projections 32 with the recesses 34. It will be observed that the prongs of the washers 28 and 35 engage the coat hanger member at each side of the center seam, thus clamping the two halves against any possibility of separation.

contour coat hanger member has distinctive forward and rearward sides it is desirable under certain conditions,

for instance, when the hangers are placed in opposite sides of a closet, as seen in Figs. 6 and 7, that the open side of the bar member be to the left with respect to the front of the coat hanger member when the hanger is placed in one side of the closet, and be to the right when To obtain these positions, the bar member may be rotated through 180 degrees with respect to the coat hanger member, the interlocking washers 27 and 28 being such that they will detent as turning movement is applied thereto and will thus position the bar member in either of its operative positions. To this end the washers are constructed of a relatively thin yieldable metal, so that when relative turning force is applied thereto the projections 32 will be forced out of the recesses 34 through the yieldability of the flat bottoms of the washers and will detent into engaging position at the completion of a half turn. It is, therefore, not required that the thumb nut be loosened in order to enable the turning of the bar relatively to the coat hanger, although if desired the thumb nut may be loosened during this operation,

As seen in Fig. 6 which illustrates a typical closet 39 having horizontal poles 40 and 41 at each side of a central aisle, the pants or skirt hanger bars of the several hangers at opposite sides of the closet have their open sides facing the aisle of the closet so the pants or skirts may be easily engaged thereon or removed therefrom. Also, the coat hanger members at both sides face forwardly, so that the front of coats hung thereon will face the door of the closet.

What is claimed is:

1. A garment hanger comprising a horizontal bar member, an arm having one end fixed to one end of said bar member and extending in spaced relation above said bar member, a suspension hook member connected to the other end of said arm, the other end of said bar member being open to permit horizontal engagement or removal of a garment over said open end and beneath said arm, a contoured coat hanger member having an intermediate garment collar fitting portion disposed beneath said bar member at an intermediate point between the ends of said bar member and a pair of laterally outwardly extending garment shoulder fitting arms, the rearward surface contour of said intermediate portion and said arms being generally convexly curved laterally and the forward surface contour being generally concavely curved laterally, means pivotally connecting said .4 intermediate portion of said coat hanger member to said bar member at said intermediate point of said bar member for relative turning movement about a vertical axis between said coat hanger and bar member to position the open end of said bar member either to the right or the left with respect to the forward side of said coat hanger member, and means for releasably retaining said members in said right or left positions of said bar member.

2. A garment hanger comprising a horizontal bar member, an arm having one end fixed to one end of said bar member and extending in spaced relation above said bar member, a suspension hook member connected to the other end of said arm, the other end of said bar member being open to permit horizontal engagement or removal of a garment over said open end and beneath said arm, a contoured coat hanger member having an intermediate garment collar fitting portion disposed beneath said bar member at an intermediate point between the ends of said bar member and a pair of outwardly extending garment shoulder fitting arms having distinctively differently contoured forward and rearward sides, a vertically disposed bolt pivotally connecting said intermediate portion of said coat hanger member to said bar member at said intermediate point of said bar member for relative turning movement about a vertical axis between said coat hanger and bar members to position the open end of said bar member either to the right or the left with respect to the forward side of said coat hanger member, a pair of washers engaged upon said bolt between said coat hanger and bar members and respectively secured to said members, and means carried by said washers for releasably retaining said members in said right or left positions of said bar member.

3. A garment hanger comprising a horizontal bar member, an arm having one end fixed to one end of said bar member and extending in spaced relation above said bar member, a suspension hook member connected to the other end of said arm, the other end of said bar member being open to permit horizontal engagement or removal of a garment over said open end and beneath said arm, a contoured coat hanger member having an intermediate garment collar fitting portion disposed beneath said bar member at an intermediate point between the ends of said bar member and a pair of outwardly extending garment shoulder fitting arms having distinctively differently contoured forward and rearward sides, a vertically disposed bolt pivotally connecting said intermediate portion of said coat hanger member to said bar member at said intermediate point of said bar member for relative turning movement about a vertical axis between said coat hanger and bar members to position the open end of said bar member either to the right or the left with respect to the forward side of said coat hanger member, a pair of yieldable washer members engaged upon said bolt between said coat hanger and bar members and respectively secured to said members, and interengaging detent means carried by said washers for releasably retaining said members in said right and left positions of said bar members.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,515,509 Menard Nov. 11, 1924 1,542,320 Reid June 16, 1925 2,436,314 Lesavoy Feb. 17, 1948 2,503,367 Weckstein Apr. 11, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS 54,850 France Ian. 18, 1950 273,048 Switzerland Apr. 16, 1951 

